Attitude Doesn't Always Equal Age
by Miakaghost
Summary: After a run-in with a demon, who seems quite 'kiddy' himself, Hakkai is acting like...well, a little kid. And it's going to keep all of Gojyo and Goku's strength to keep the monk from outright killing the youkai himself!
1. Hi, I'm Shiyuko!

Attitude Doesn't Always Equal Age

Chap.1

He stood about the height of a regular man, saying an average man was 5' 6", the man before them being perhaps only an inch taller, giver or take a half inch. His hair was probably an almost normal, as well. The sheen of the copper hair was too much to be truly normal, but could pass for average easily. His clothes, as well, were quite ordinary. Simply a tan wrinkled vest over a white tunic and dark mahogany pants. The vest was dusty, and had several tears. The only thing that tipped him off for being any sort of a threat was his pointed ears and claws, courtesy of all youkai appearance. His smile was a kind, almost immature one, with a childish glee shining in his silver eyes.

Amethyst gaze narrowed, turning into a glare.

"So what do you want?" Of course he already knew. A sigh. "I'm tired of listening to youkai telling me, actually, so if you're going to try and kill us, get it over with."

"Kill you?" The youkai cocked his head to the side, as if not understanding. "Oh…" He smiled wider in realization. "I see."

"Please try not to take too long, sir. We **are** on a schedule, you know." Hakkai told the youkai. The youkai grinned.

"Okay, then. I'll just skip to the good parts. I'm Shiyuko."

"Let's just hurry this up." Gojyo mumbled, letting the blade of his shakujou fly, hitting the ground where Shiyuko was standing with great impact, and a cloud of dust rose up. Before Gojyo could see what was happening, Shiyuko was hovering in front of him, a frown on his face.

"You've got the entirely wrong idea about me." He pouted. Hakkai, seeing this, started to conjure up a ki ball. Shiyuko bit his lip, and then grinned. Leaping forward, he instantly had Hakkai pinned on the ground. His knees locked Hakkai's in place, and his hands held Hakkai's down. "This should prove to be fun." He laughed.

"Wh-what?" Hakkai gasped; his wrists were starting to hiss and they felt like they were on fire. He gave way to the darkness and Shiyuko got off of him. Then he looked at Hakkai's head.

"Oops. Didn't mean to make him hit his head." He glanced at the bump. "He's gonna have one hell of a headache when he wakes up." He glanced up at the three men surrounding him. "Ooooh…..yeah. I forgot about you guys." He laughed nervously. "Uh….I'll be going now." He threw a small purple pellet at the ground and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Gojyo lifted Hakkai into Jeep carefully, and let his head rest on Goku's lap, then leaped into the driver's seat. Sanzo glared at him from the passenger's seat.

"What are you doing?"

"Look, Goku's too young to drive, and you have no idea how to, so **I'm** driving." Gojyo snapped, ending the argument.

_'Hopefully, Hakkai will wake up soon.'_


	2. Hakkai Kiddy!

Attitude Doesn't Always Equal Age

Chap.2

Goku yawned as he sat at the table down in Sanzo's room. The previous night they'd all gotten their own rooms, but Sanzo insisted they meet in his room to plan their route again.

Gojyo frowned; Hakkai still hadn't woken up yet, and he was getting worried. He edged down the hallway, and ventured into Hakkai's room.

The sheets were messy, but the bed was empty nonetheless, so Gojyo knew Hakkai was awake. But where was he? Sanzo followed the kappa in, his full priestly garb on. Then, a claw knocked the crown off, and a playful giggle chimed from a chair behind him. There was Hakkai, though his limiters had been removed for some reason.

But the emerald eyes were wide, innocent and…well, staring right at them for some reason.

"H…Hakkai?" Gojyo was incredulous at Hakkai's wide eyed appearance.

"Mm-hm, Gojyo-ojisan?" He answered. Gojyo's jaw nearly hit the ground; Hakkai had called him **ojisan**! He wasn't an uncle; in fact, he and Hakkai were the same age!

"Hakkai, you're obviously not feeling well. Back to bed." Sanzo pointed back to the bed. Hakkai pouted and crossed his arms across his chest.

"I'm fine." He insisted in a childish tone. Gojyo sighed and grabbed Hakkai by the neck.

"That's it; Goku's gonna see you and we'll decide if you're okay." The immature whining continued.

"But I told you I'm fine, Gojyo-ojisan!"

Goku stared at Hakkai, his eyes wide in shock. The youkai was now chirping happily to a bird that had flown in and perched on his finger. Goku couldn't believe it was Hakkai; not with the coos of, "Aren't you a pretty birdy? Yes, you are." Coming from the man.

"Are you sure this is Hakkai?"

"I'm afraid so." Gojyo grimaced. He turned back to the boy and the monk. "Look, Sanzo. We have to stay here until we can find a way to get Hakkai back to normal."

"Well, there's no harm, I guess. Hakkai's going to be fine, even with this new attitude. He's not physically hurt, so…" Sanzo was cut off by someone jerking his hair so hard he fell back in his chair, hitting the ground with a loud crash. Emerald eyes stared down at him, wide in both surprise and shame.

"Your hair was shiny!" Hakkai exclaimed. Sanzo glared at him and jumped to a standing position.

"That's it! He's dead!" Sanzo had to be held back by Gojyo and Goku to stop him from killing Hakkai, who simply laughed and pointed to the monk.

"Sanzo-ojichan's funny!"

"When you let me go, I'm gonna friggin' kill that damn youkai!"

"All the more reason not to let you go!"

All the while, Hakkai watched with wide eyes, and clapped his hands together playfully.

"Ojisans are all so funny!"


	3. Gojyo's Day

Attitude Doesn't Always Equal Age

Chap.3

Gojyo cracked open an eye and nearly screamed at what he saw in the mirror. Sometime, while he was sleeping, Hakkai had neatly braided the crimson hair into thousands of little braids. He had also apparently, judging from the state of the walls, found Goku's permanent marker. He could tell from the scribblings of 'Gojyo is a hentai' on the walls. Then he saw the rest of the room and let his head drop back onto the table.

There were broken vases, and the curtains were left on the ground, somewhat singed. Hakkai was crouching next to the still smoking curtains, the fire extinguisher still in hand.

"Sorry, Gojyo-ojisan. I wanted to make you something…but, uh, the curtain caught fire and…" His face fell a bit. Gojyo bit his lip.

_"Kappa, we're going out to look for that Shiyuko guy. You need to stay here with Hakkai until we get back. It shouldn't take long, considering how kiddy he acted. It's pretty easy to predict the movements of an immature brat." Sanzo had said. _

_"Why do** I** have to stay here with him?"  
_ _"Because he trusts you the most." _

Gojyo now regretted ever agreeing to stay at the inn with Hakkai in the first place. After the first ten minutes of staying quiet with a book, Hakkai had thought up the **brilliant** game of 'Throw Books At Goyjo's head'. After a firm slap on the hand, and the last book being wrenched from his hand, he'd resigned to whimpering for five minutes. The youkai quickly recovered, and was daring Gojyo to catch him in a game of tag before the hour was over.

Gojyo had given chase, running after the youkai through town, and after an hour and a half, he finally caught Hakkai. Of course, after that, he had to make Hakkai go through town and apologize for all the damage he'd caused; altogether, five children were knocked into mud puddles, two cats had leaped into trees for fear of the youkai who wished to cuddle them, five shopkeepers had had their carts overturned, and one bookkeeper got his books thrown at the hanyou in an encore game of 'Throw Books At Gojyo's Head'.

When he'd finally gotten back to the inn, Gojyo was dead tired; and it was only noon! Once he'd found his hair in braids, the wall scrawled on, and the curtain burned, this is how his day went.

**12:15 am-**_Hakkai decided to try to help the cook with making the pizza crust and nearly shoved Gojyo into the oven in the process._

**12:45 am-** _Hakkai finds a good sized mud puddle and decides Gojyo needs to also experience how much cool mud there is in it. Later finds out the part he pushed Gojyo into was really quicksand._

**1:28 pm-**_Gojyo tries to drag Hakkai to bathhouse to clean the youkai up and ends up paying with the gold card for the new claw marks on the walls and floor._

**1:56 pm-**_ Gojyo gets Hakkai in the tub, and Hakkai apparently believes Gojyo to need a bath as well, so pulls him in. _

**2:04 pm-** _Gojyo finally gets out, slips on a bar of soap and falls flat on his back, while Hakkai roars with laughter_

**2:58 pm-**_ Gojyo, now clean, due to Hakkai, and Hakkai, now clean, walk out of the bath house and Hakkai instantly finds a frog and tried to keep holding onto it and gets dragged along the ground, tearing open his leg._

**3:02 pm**-_ Gojyo brings out the antiseptic and cleaning alcohol and attempts to clean the wound on Hakkai's leg._

**3:15 pm-**_ His wound cleaned and bandaged, Hakkai sniffs the cleaning antiseptic and starts to drink it; Gojyo grabs it away and falls out the window, caught off balance._

**3:45 pm-**_ Gojyo tends to his own wounds created by the fall, and tells Hakkai to draw a picture or something._

**4:18 pm-** _Hakkai finds Jeep and, thinking the dragon is cold when it shudders, shuts him in the oven. Gojyo finds him later, and nearly has his chest ripped off by the creature's burning hot claws. _

**5:20 pm-** _Hakkai learns to treat third-degree burns. First try finds him trying to pour all of the antiseptic on Gojyo's chest. _

**5:45 pm-**_ Chest finally taken care of properly, Gojyo drags Hakkai down to the bar. Hakkai tells the waitress she's 'really pretty and his nice pretty hair' and the waitress unbuttons the top three buttons on her blouse, much to Gojyo's surprise, and gets them however much food they want, on the house. _

**6:38 pm-**_ The waitress's drunk boyfriend stands up and calls Hakkai a 'girlfriend stealer'. Hakkai says he's smelly, and Gojyo has to drag him out of there before the man pummels Hakkai into next week. _

**7:55 pm-**_Hakkai plays hide-and-go-seek with Gojyo._

**9:35 pm- **_ Gojyo finds Hakkai in the library and the youkai insists on teaching the children there the wonderful game of 'Throw Books At Gojyo's Head'. _

**11:48 pm-**_ Gojyo gets Hakkai back to the inn, and Hakkai gets in bed, then insists on a bedtime story._

**12: 22 am-**_ After a few hundred tries, Gojyo gets the Cinderella story right and Hakkai goes to sleep. _

**1:47 am-**_ Gojyo finishes taking the braids out of his hair, and Hakkai is up again, complaining about being thirsty. Gojyo gets him a drink of water and Hakkai goes to bed to sleep again. _

**3:26 am-**_ Gojyo finally gets to sleep, only to have Hakkai...have a bad dream and crawl in bed with the kappa. _

Staring at the youkai sleeping next to him, Gojyo cursed to himself.

_'I'm going to be very damn well tired when the shit monk and monkey get here.'_ He thought. _'They better be working their asses off to fix this!'_


	4. Shiyuko's Proposition

Attitude Doesn't Always Equal Age

Chap.4

Meanwhile, Goku had stopped Sanzo at a meat bun cat to buy some. He insisted so loud, that whispers of child abuse were going around until Sanzo finally bought them. Finally on the road again, Goku happily snacked on his meat buns, and they stopped in a small forest clearing.

"Listen, monkey, we're supposed to be finding this Shiyuko guy who regressed Hakkai's mind, **not** stuffing our faces with meat buns!" Sanzo yelled at the boy, who whimpered when the fan came hurtling down on his head. Then, a chuckled rang out among the singing birds, and a bush rustled.

"Who's there?" Goku called. Then, the same demon they'd seen before, Shiyuko, stepped out, hands behind his back, and a calm expression on his face.

"It's just me, Shiyuko. And I have a proposition for you gents." He smiled.

"For us? What do you mean?" Sanzo arched a brow.

"It might not look like it at this particular moment in time, but I'm in great need of your assistance." Shiyuko began.

"Oh are you? Hands where we can see them." Sanzo ordered. Shiyuko brought out his hands; both were empty. "Now what problem do you have that you think that we can help with?"

"But Sanzo, you said we aren't heroes! Why do you wanna help him?" Goku whined.

"Because, monkey," Sanzo hissed. "This idiot is the only one who can turn Hakkai back into his normal self."

"Will you hear me out?" Shiyuko asked, seeming quite a different person from when they'd met him last. Sanzo reluctantly agreed.

A little bit later, they were seated in the soft, warm grass. The birds were singing and flowers decorated the clearing, but Shiyuko's face remained serious and solemn.

"As you know, I'm Shiyuko, and I happen to be a powerful youkai." Shiyuko began. "When I was little, my mother had a vision that when I was older, I would realize how much power I wielded and that I, being the evil-hating guy I am, (Don't laugh, Goku!) kill those youkai who had done wrong. My mother, while a good mother, wasn't exactly as pure as I was led to believe."

"What does this have to do with your needing our help?" Goku asked.

"I was getting to that. My mother was afraid of my maturing and gaining such power, but seeing how I was little at the time, she waved it off. But on my sixteenth birthday, I realized that I was actually quite powerful. Then, my mother's fear came back, and she figured she had to do something." Shiyuko sighed sadly. "So she regressed my mind back to a child's state, where I could not realize my full potential. But her spell only lasted a year, and every time my birthday came, I regain my proper age's mind, maturity, and realization of power, as well as the memories of what's been happening. In order to keep me from…well, using my full power against her, my mother always tried to regress my mind as soon as she could. This year, I managed to escape her, and I searched almost feverishly for someone who was strong enough to help me out. That's when I heard of you four."

"So…you mean you think we're really strong!" Goku grinned. Shiyuko cocked his head to the side.

"Of course. Why would bother to seek you out like this if I didn't think you were quite strong?" He wondered.

"What was the point of regressing Hakkai's mind to a child's?" Sanzo asked the youkai.

"Inquisitive one, aren't you?" Shiyuko grinned.

"Why, Shiyuko?"

"Well…one might call it a little extra motivation."

"Motivation?"

"Mm-hmm. Either you help me, or your precious Hakkai will have the mind of a child indefinitely. It's your choice."

"Hm…you know, you're actually quite clever."

"I try."


	5. Enter The Koutaichi!

Attitude Doesn't Always Equal Age

Chap.5

"Hakkai! Now isn't the time to playing hide-and-go-seek! C'mon, Hakkai! Hakkai!" Gojyo was now wandering through town, looking for the youkai who had disappeared sometime during the morning after spilling Goku's marbles on the floor and toppling the bookshelf. It took an hour to get the bookshelf back up, and Gojyo's back was still throbbing from his hard tumble on the ground after slipping on the marbles on the ground.

And then he saw the youkai; when he saw him, his anger subsided. Hakkai was playing with a small marionette with a little girl. The girl seemed to be enjoying it; she patted him on the head, waved and skipped away. Gojyo slowly approached Hakkai.

"Oh, Gojyo-ojisan. Are you mad at me for running away without telling you?" He asked.

"Naw, Hakkai. Just don't worry me like that, okay?" Gojyo assured him, ruffling Hakkai's hair.

"Uh, Gojyo-ojisan, are boulders supposed to be hurtling towards us?" Hakkai pointed to the boulder high in the air which was, indeed hurtling towards them. Gojyo shoved Hakkai out of the way, and the boulder landed with a crash where they had been a moment ago.

"Alright, Sanzo party! Today the great Lirin's gonna beat you guys up!" The red-head yelled out as she appeared atop the boulder.

_'Not her! Why did Lirin have to pick today, of all days, to show up? This isn't good! Not now! Now now!'_ Gojyo grit his teeth. Hakkai was in no condition to fight; that much was obvious to him.

"Lirin, this is a group effort." Kougaiji warned as he, Yaone, and Dokugakuji strode up.

_'Wonderful. They're all here. My day just can't get any better, can it?'_ Gojyo thought.

"There are only two of you here?" Kougaiji wondered.

"Well…yeah, but you guys are so weak only one of us is needed to get rid of you!" Gojyo snapped.

"Oh, really? Then…why don't you show us?" Kougaiji asked him.

"No prob!"

"Actually, I've been curious as to how powerful Hakkai-san is without his limiter. Perhaps he should fight." Yaone calmly suggested.

"**NO!"** Gojyo instantly yelled. The Kougaiji group recoiled from his reaction. "I mean…you know, he's, uh, so…um….soft against you guys. He's too…uh, mom-ish to…er, fight you properly."

"Yaone's right. I, too would like to see him fight in this form." Dokugakuji agreed.

**"NO!"** Gojyo's refusal came quicker this time, and was actually louder. Now Lirin was staring to look at him as if he were crazy.

"You haven't given us a reason why not. Stop beating around the bush and prepare to fight, Cho Hakkai." Kougaiji warned. Hakkai, innocent and wide-eyed, turned to Gojyo and pointed to himself.

"They want to fight me?" He asked. Gojyo sighed, and nodded. "But why would they wanna do **that**, Gojyo-ojisan?" He asked.

"Look, it's cause they think that…you're still like you were….two days ago."

"Hm? An' what was that, Gojyo-ojisan? Hm? What? What?" Hakkai chirped.

"Aw, shut up and go back to the inn, Hakkai!" Gojyo ordered.

"But I wanna know who these guys are, Gojyo-ojisan!"

"I said go back to the inn, Hakkai!"

"But Gojyo-ojisan-!"

"Go back or you're grounded! Got that?"

"But that's not fair!"

"Life's not fair. Live with it."

"But Gojyo-ojisaaaaaannnnnnn…."

"That's it! You're grounded! Now back to the inn before I have to take away those books, too!"

"But I use those to play my game!"

"Yeah, well, I'm none to enthusiastic about your game of 'throw-books-at-Gojyo's-head' and I damn well will take those books away if you don't march your ass back to the inn this second, young man!"

"Okay….Gojyo-ojisan…." Hakkai whimpered.

All the while, the Kougaiji gang stood there…dumbstruck.

_'What the hell is going on here!'_

A/N: I don't know if I mentioned this in the second chapter or not, but –ojisan usually means uncle.


	6. Explaining To The Kougaiji Gang

Attitude Doesn't Always Equal Age

Chap. 6

"Do you promise?" Goku asked, for what seemed like the hundredth time, as he, Sanzo and Shiyuko made their way back to town. Shiyuko smiled honestly.

"For the hundredth time, Goku, I swear by the name of Kanzeon herself to return Hakkai back to himself once you do this for me."

"Shiyuko, you don't mind us killing your own mother?" Sanzo asked. Shiyuko shook his head automatically.

"Naw. Not at all. I'm well aware of how evil she is. But you're going to have to be careful. You see, she also knows how to leech abilities."

"Leech abilities?"

"Yes. She steals certain abilities she deems useful and takes them into her own body for her own use. If she's killed, then all those abilities will be returned." Shiyuko sighed. "Your half-breed should watch out."

"Why?" Goku was asking a hundred questions a second.

"Well, you see, if you weren't always your current race, like a human-turned-demon, or if you're not a whole, like a half-breed, then she's able to steal your race, and make you different. Like a human-turned-demon becomes entirely human, and a half-breed becomes either entirely human or entirely demon. That's how it works." Shiyuko explained, as he and the two entered town. "Hm, judging from the running people, either a group of youkai have come, or Detestai's already here to see your half-breed."

"Detestai? Is that your mother's name?" Sanzo asked. Shiyuko nodded in response.

"Hurry, Sanzo, Shiyuko! We need to find out why everyone's running!" Goku called, urging the two to follow him.

Gojyo still stood with the Kougaiji gang staring at him and Hakkai.

"Uh….this is a long story." He tried to explain.

"Why did you call Hakkai a young man?" Lirin asked, still incredulous.

"Yes, I heard you were a bit eccentric, but this is going a bit far." Yaone frowned at the half-breed.

"Gojyo!"

"Kappa!"

"Half-breed!" three voices called these three voices. Gojyo recognized the first as Goku, the second as Sanzo…and unfortunately, the third as Shiyuko.

"Guys. Hey, what's he doing here!" Gojyo pointed to Shiyuko.

"We found out why he even came to meet us in the first place. Let's get to the inn, and we can explain everything." Sanzo answered.

Back at the inn….

"Shiyuko came to ask our help to get rid of his mother, who's been regressing his mind each year in fear that he'll destroy her. Shiyuko regressed Hakkai's mind to that of a child in order to persuade us further to help him out of this predicament of his." Sanzo explained.

"Oh…so, Gojyo-san was yelling at Hakkai in such a manner, because Hakkai's been regressed to a child state, and Gojyo must be the parent." Yaone summed up.

"Uh, yeah." Gojyo scratched his head nervously.

"All of you, we'd better be fast if we wanna get this done. I think Detestai's dangerously close to finding us." Shiyuko glanced around nervously.

"Why? We've got plenty of time." Goku reasoned. Shiyuko shook his head.

"No we don't."

"How do you know?"

"Because she's standing in the window."


	7. Detestai

Attitude Doesn't Always Equal Age

Chap. 7

Detestai, Shiyuko's mother, seemed to be a young woman around her late twenties. Her hair was a caramel brown, a golden color mixed into that caramel brown. She wore a denim vest over a green spaghetti strap tank top and a pair of hip hugger denim jeans. Her pointed ears had three golden rings hooked onto each ear, a silver stud up at the top of each one.

"That's your mother? She doesn't look old enough." Gojyo whispered.

"Oh, doesn't she? One of the abilities she leeched is eternal beauty. She's gonna look like that until she's over a thousand. And she's always made herself look younger, anyways." Shiyuko hissed back.

"My, my. A half-breed." Detestai stepped down from her perch on the windowsill and slunk up to Gojyo. She reached her hands up to Gojyo's face, her hands finally coming to rest on the sides of his head.

It took but a moment for the pain to register with Gojyo. He suddenly cried out in pain, the red hot flashes of pain shooting through his body. He wanted to fall over, or to at least recoil from the pain, but his body was unwilling to move. It felt like every single nerve in his body was on fire; like millions of tiny little pins were being forced through his skin; like someone had just put him into an oven set to the temperature of the sun, or perhaps Sanzo's full anger.

When Detestai pulled back from Gojyo, he visibly doubled over and proceeded to vomit. She laughed, and pulled at Shiyuko's wrist.

"Come on, son. We have matters to attend to."

"No, not this year! I'm not going with you!" Shiyuko violently pushed her away. Detestai was frozen for a moment, then her hair flared up like a fire, and small sparks of black fire danced in her eyes.

"Not this year? Listen to me, you disgusting little maggot, you're going to come with me, or so help me, I'm going to…"

"He said he's not gonna go with you, ya idiot!" Goku snapped, knocking Detestai away with nyoibou. Detestai growled out an answer to him. Shiyuko frowned.

"Just cause he restated what I said is no reason to curse in youkai at him." He reasoned.

"You little brat!" Detestai shouted. Suddenly a green wall rose between Detestai and Shiyuko.

"Um….I don't really know what's going on here, but if he says he doesn't wanna go with you, mean lady, then he doesn't have go with you. So…just go away!" Hakkai snapped at Detestai, who was just as amazed as Shiyuko that Hakkai had risen a barrier between them.

"….Grr….fine! You win this match, Shiyuko! But I will be back, and when I return….you **will** be mine!" Detestai clenched a fist, and leaped out the window.

Shiyuko turned to Hakkai, and approached the youkai carefully.

"Did you raise that barrier? Did you help me?" He asked.

"Of course I did! You were in trouble and needed help!" Hakkai replied cheerfully.

"G-guys…?" Gojyo's weak voice called. "I kinda need some more help stomaching what that wench did to me." He struggled to his feet, and Goku gasped, while Lirin rolled over laughing.

A/N: Guess what Detestai did to him in your review! Oh yeah, I went crazy making up Detestai's outfit. She sounds like a demoness fashion model, doesn't she?


	8. Centauress!

Miakaghost: OMG! 19 reviews? Wow! I'm really good! Oh, thank you for all your kind reviews! Now, to continue with the story!

Jeep: Good. I was wondering what happened to Gojyo.

Miakaghost: Because all the others are busy with the story, Jeep will be my co-narrator!

Jeep: Yep! And all it took were three volumes of Saiyuki reload, two boxes of Botan Rice Candy, and ten boxes of strawberry pocky! ……Seriously, don't ask about the pocky.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Attitude Doesn't Always Equal Age

Chap.8

"What, monkey? What did she do?" Gojyo asked. He was well aware he didn't fee like himself, but as to exactly what he felt like, it was unknown.

"Gojyo-ojisan, you have hooves!" Hakkai pointed out, pointing a clawed finger to Gojyo's newly gained horse half.

"Huh? What am I?" He gasped. Goku rolled on the floor, laughing hysterically along-side Lirin.

"That's not all!" He gasped out between fits of laughter.

"Gojyo, look." Kougaiji held a mirror up for Gojyo to see. After a moment of silence…

"**EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"** A high pitched shriek rang out, as Gojyo saw the new cleavage his chest was boasting. "Wonderful….I'm a girl…and a…a…exactly what am I?"

"Um….I believe it's a centaur. A female centaur." Yaone pointed out.

"A centaur….I'm a female centaur." Gojyo looked back at the horse half. Not nessesarily bad-looking, really. A good chestnut colored hair covering it, with a golden tail, and iridescent ebon black hooves. If he were into horses, he'd agree that he looked pretty good.

"Yes, a centaur. Shiyuko, we need some help here. What do we do?" Sanzo asked the youkai.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure here. But I'm aware of one thing; if Gojyo's going to be a centaur for a while, he, er…for his comfort I'll continue calling him a he….will have to get the fruit from the Tao tree on the edge of the forest. It's the food centaurs eat, along with melons, berries, and a variety of herbs."

"At least I don't eat grass." Gojyo grumbled.

"Yes, but….you're going to need to eat dinner, you know. You and Goku had better gallop there at full speed if you want to get there and back again before the sun sets." Shiyuko warned.

"Gallop? I'm going to have to gallop?" Gojyo paused. "And monkey boy's going to ride me!"

"Unless you think he can keep up with a centaur."

"Grrr….on my back, monkey. And don't pull on my tail." Gojyo warned, letting the boy climb on his back, and trotting down the stairs. "Here we go."

"Gojyo, I'm not so sure about this." Goku whimpered.

"You will be." Gojyo snapped, letting off a burst of speed and jumpstarting the speed to an incredibly fast gallop, which nearly caused Goku to fall off.

"Slow down! I can barely hold on!" Goku whined.

"Just hold on tighter! I want to get back before sunset!" Gojyo shot back, then upon feeling Goku squeeze him tighter, "And don't squish my breasts, pervert!"

"Sorry, Gojyo!" Goku whimpered, as Gojyo slowed to a trot and they arrived a large tree with pink star shaped fruit about the size of apples. "What are you waiting for?"

"You're the one with feet, monkey! You get it!" Gojyo snapped, and watched Goku grumble, then climb up the tree, and start picking fruit, carefully putting it in his pack.

Gojyo crossed his arms on his chest, upset by his transformation, then…heard a rustling in the bushes. He turned around slowly, to inspect the noise.

"Hee hee! A centauress out all alone? What a shame!" A voice cackled.

"I'm not a centauress!" Gojyo snapped.

"Oh, aren't you?" A woman hopped out of the bushes.

To put it simply, she looked like a large rabbit that walked on its hind legs, and wore a red vest, with a golden fringe. Her fur was a light brown, about the same color as Hakkai's hair, Gojyo mused, and her eyes were a bright silver color.

"Huh? What are you?" Gojyo stepped back in surprise.

"Centauress, I'm a Eyri, of course. Didn't you know?"

"No! And I'm too busy fighting Detestai to care about what Eyris are!" Gojyo shot back.

"De-Detestai? Did you just say Detestai?" the Eyri woman was now interested. "We might have use for you, centauress." She pulled a small vial from a brown bag on a belt around her waist,

"Huh?"

When Goku climbed down from the tree, his back bulging with Tao fruit, he saw no sign of the centauress.

"Gojyo? Gojyo! Gojyo!"

A/N: Heh heh. Some of you were partially right, anyways. He –was- turned into a girl, just not a girl half-breed. Originally, I was going to say he was turned into a full demon, but abandoned the idea when I saw how much merit this one had. Enjoy the story, folks!


	9. Visit With The Eyri Elder

Miakaghost: Whooo! 24 reviews? Wow! To keep everyone happy, here's chappy nine!

Attitude Doesn't Always Equal Age

Chap. 9

Gojyo rubbed his head, and looked around him. He was in a small hut, the Eryi woman he'd seen crouching next to him.

"Centauress, I am Renika. Come now, I want to show you something." The woman stood and beckoned to him. Gojyo tried to stand, and fell.

_'I forgot that I have four legs now!'_ Keeping his hooves in mind, he made it to his feet. Renika beckoned again, and Gojyo followed her outside to a small village.

"What is this place?"

"This is the Eyri village. Mind you, it's **the** Eryi village. Come on, the villager elder has to talk to you." Renika led Gojyo over to a large dome-like hut.

It was large and dark inside, like stepping into an astrology theater. A white Eryi woman sat on a pillow in front of a fire. She beckoned for Gojyo.

"Renika told me how you are trying to defeat Detestai." The woman stated.

"Yeah. She turned me into a centauress. I was…um, a half-breed."

"And judging on how much you despise your current body, you were male, correct?" She asked. Gojyo nodded. "I see. I am the Eyri Elder. Renika may have told you, but this is the only Eyri village."

"Yeah, she said that. Does that have something to do with Detestai?"

"You're a clever one. You see, Detestai….well, it used to be that the Eyri was a thriving race, and there were countless numbers of us. But one day….Detestai came, and our world became a living hell. She took our young women as subjects for her fiendish concoctions, and her horrible spells." The Eyri Elder shuddered. "Did you know that Eyris don't all speak common? In fact, a great many of us don't speak at all."

"But you and Renika speak."

"We were test subjects for Detestai. Renika escaped with eternal beauty, the ability to speak common, and greater strength that any of our warriors. I escaped only with the ability to speak common."

"What happened to the men, Eyri Elder?"

"The men…they were taken to her dreadful Bio Lab. After all, there is a legend that the essence of an Eyri grants beauty."

_"One of the abilities she leeched is eternal beauty."_

"Did any of your people know the ability of eternal beauty before-hand?" Gojyo asked.

"Why yes. It was…my sister. She was taken with the others to Detestai. She's left us alone, but comes for a fresh young one every once in a while." The Eyri Elder replied. "Why?"

"That's it! Eyri Elder, can I take one of your wisest Eyris back to help me out with certain things?"

"Of course. But he doesn't speak common. You'll need Renika as well."

"Good." Gojyo ran out, and there stood Renika with a silver furred Eyri boy, who, were he human, would probably be about nineteen.

"Gojyo-san, this Yuca." Renika introduced the boy. His golden eyes shone, as he bowed to the centauress.

"Good. Both of you get on. We've got to get back to my friends to tell them everything."

"Hm? Everything? What have you figured out?"

"How to beat Detestai."


	10. How To Beat Detestai

Attitude Doesn't Always Equal Age

Chap. 10

Sanzo was almost pleased to see Gojyo galloping towards them. Gojyo slowed to a stop and let Renika and Yuca get off.

"Guys, I know how to beat Detestai!" Gojyo panted.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Spill it, Gojyo." Shiyuko ordered. Gojyo grinned.

"I was talking to the Eyri elder, and I found out something. Yuca, I heard that the life essence of an Eyri grants beauty. Does it also grant immortality?" He asked the eyri. Renika looked over at Yuca, who looked at her, and waved his hands about.

"Yuca says he believes that is true."

"Yes, but it isn't permanent!" Gojyo blurted out.

"It isn't permanent?"

"The Eyri Elder told me that Detestai has to come back every once in a while for a fresh young Eyri, one who isn't halfway through their life! That means…after a while, the immortality wears off, and unless she gets the essence of an Eyri in time, her age will catch up with her, and she'll die naturally!"

"True…" Renika mumbled. "That's it. That's why she's killing my people."

"But that's selfish!" Shiyuko frowned. "Killing off a beautiful and graceful race just for the sake of eternal beauty." He shook his head.

"So how are we going to beat her?" Goku asked.

"Well, by my calculations, tomorrow's when the immortality should start wearing off. We're going to have to find Detestai then, and keep her from getting to the Eyri village."

"Hey, what's he doing?" Hakkai pointed to Yuca, whose ears were twitching as he waved his hands about, grinning. Renika giggled, and turned back to them.

"Yuca says, 'sounds like a plan to me'!"

A/N: Oh, god, this is the shortest chapter I've ever written! But even if it's short, I hope you'll like it! I've never gotten to chapter ten on anything before.


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